that "There is no Man, that hath left house or Brethren, or Sisters, or Father, or Mother, or Wife, or Children, or Lands, for His Sake and the Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold; and in the World to Come Eternal Life."-Mark x. 29 to 30. And JESUS Went about all Galilee, Teaching in their Synagogues, and Preaching the Gospel of The KINGDOM; and Healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the People. And His Fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto Him all sick People, that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with Devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and He Healed them. And there followed Him great Multitudes of People from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.-23 to 25. With what Zeal did The Blessed JESUS Prosecute His Gracious Ministry on Earth, not only Inculcating the Pure Precepts of His Religion in the Synagogues throughout Galilee, Delivering Glad Tidings of His Salvation by the Coming of His KINGDOM, but Manifesting the Benevolently Active Principles of Vital Charity as the inseparable companion of true Faith, by Going about Doing Good, Healing the Sick, and Restoring the Diseased; Thereby Setting us a Glorious Example Which, to the utmost of our power, and as we severally have opportunity, we should follow; and though the same instantaneous effect may not be produced by our exertions, the same power neither belonging, nor being Communicated to us, yet much may be done to alleviate the infirmities of the body, to soothe the sufferings or sorrows of the mind, and still more towards healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease amongst the Souls of Others; an office which is infinitely more truly charitable than attention confined to physical ills, though in doing the one, as the weightier matter, we should not leave the other undone. Oh that All, who are sick unto Spiritual death, would suffer themselves to be brought to The Great PHYSICIAN of Souls; and would submit to His Mild and Gracious Prescriptions! for the adoption of Them would insure the Cure of the diseases affecting the Soul, whether from original or actual sin, and would Heal the wounds and Allay the anguish of an agonized and chiding conscience: They would dispossess the heart of those evil propensities, which, instigated by the subtlety and malice of the Devil, influence it to its deepest misery, and the Soul's final destruction: They would dispel the melancholy and despair, which bear so heavily upon the mind, when the Peace of GOD is Withdrawn from it: They would calm and tranquillize the agitations of a Spirit trembling on the brink of a hopeless Eternity. In effect JESUS still Continueth to Preach in this our Galilee, the Scene of the Visitation of His Blessed Gospel. And why are there not great Numbers of People following Him in faith and obedience; hanging on all the Utterances of His Lips, and receiving at His Hands The KINGDOM Prepared for them; and thinking, in the meekness and gratitude of their hearts, all things but loss for the gain of That KINGDOM, and for the Excellency of the knowledge of CHRIST JESUS, their LORD? For assuredly Human Souls are not of less Estimation in the Mind of our CREATOR in this our day; neither are the Terms of Salvation, That are Offered to us, of less Encouragement; and, therefore, the Everlasting Interests of our Immortal Souls should not be in any degree es pursued, than were those of the first Followers of The Same SAVIOUR and LORD, when Himself Present amongst The Inhabitants upon Earth, Visibly in our Nature. St. Mark's description of the early advance of our SAVIOUR'S Ministry has been before stated and observed upon. In addition, it may be remarked, the whole Multitude sought to touch Him; for there Went Virtue out of Him, and Healed them All. And He Lifted up His Eyes on His Disciples, and Said, Blessed be ye Poor! for yours is The KINGDOM of GOD!'”—Chap. vi. 12 to 20. The Earnestness with which our SAVIOUR devoted Himself to Prayer, before Entering on the Great Office of Promulgating the Sublime and Essential Exhortations and Encouragements of His Gospel, is well deserving of both attention and imitation: and though St. Luke confines the Expression of the Beatitude thus to the Disciples of our Saviour then around Him, doubtless It was received with gladness, and was intended so to be by All, who in likemindedness listened to the Recorded Utterance; and so it will be to the end of Time by All, who have, by true faith and fervent supplication, sought to cherish the Soul-sustaining Promise, and apply It to their own hopes and personal expectations. And, in analogy, doubtless, all diseases of the Soul are at this day, and will ever be, as promptly Healed by coming or going to JESUS, in the Spirit of Christian humility and confidence, and touching, in penitence and faith, the Hem of His Garment of Salvation, as they were in the Season of His PERSONAL Ministry upon Earth, when Acting as The PHYSICIAN of Bodies as well as of Souls. The wise Son of David had said, “Better is it to be of an humble Spirit, with the Lowly, than to divide the spoil with the Proud."—Prov. xvi. 19. And again, "A Man's pride shall bring him low; but Honour shall uphold the Humble in spirit."-xxix. 23. And the Declaration of JEHOVAH, as Put forth from the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah, Offers the same Gracious Encouragement to the meek and quiet Spirit, "For Thus Saith The HIGH and LOFTY ONE, That Inhabiteth Eternity, Whose Name is 'HOLY,' 'I Dwell in the High and Holy Place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit, to Revive the Spirit of the Humble, and to Revive the heart of the contrite Ones.'"-Chap. lvii. 15. Blessed are They, that mourn! for they shall be Comforted.-4. ! They, that mourn in spirit and in truth for their sins and wickednesses, and for their unnatural and ungrateful treatment of their CREATOR and DIVINE BENEFACTOR; and, sorrowing with a godly sorrow at the remembrance and Self-conviction thereof, turn from the evil of their ways, following after Righteousness in pure Faith, shall, through the Gracious Offices of The Blessed JESUS, be Comforted with Spiritual Comfort and all Holy Consolation; Which shall Convert their weeping into the solemn and inspiring laughter of the Soul, according to the spirit of St. Luke's description of This Beatitude; "Blessed are ye, that weep NOW for ye shall laugh."-vi. 21. For there shall be Opened unto them "the Acceptable Year of The LORD, when All, that so mourn, shall have their sorrows hushed; and shall have given unto them Beauty for ashes, the Oil of Joy for mourning, the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of heaviness."—Isa. lxi. 2, 3. Yea, The COM FORTER shall Come unto them with Healing on His Wings. The same Upholding and Supportive Doctrine our SAVIOUR Inculcated upon an after Occasion, when. Pouring forth Consolation amidst the presence and the prospect of tribulation, He thus Addressed Those around Him, from whom He Foretold that He should, for a time, be Separated; "Verily, Verily, I Say unto you, that shall weep ye and lament; and ye shall be sorrowful; but your sorrow shall be Turned into joy. Ye now, therefore, have sorrow, but I will See you again; and your heart shall rejoice: and your joy no Man taketh from you."-John xvi. 20 and 22. St. Paul, in the strong confidence of the Final fulfilment of That Prophecy in Its Spirit, both towards himself and all the Faithful in CHRIST JESUS, thus extends the Cheering Assurance in his 2nd Epistle to the Corinthian Converts: "Our hope of you (he writes) is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are Partakers of the Sufferings, so shall ye be also of the Consolation."-Chap. i. 7. It is true that the Time has yet to come, "when GOD shall Wipe away all tears; when there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for, when that shall be, The Tabernacle of GOD will be with Men, and He will Dwell with them; and they shall be His People, and GOD Himself shall be with them, and be their GOD."-Rev. xxi. 4. 3. And assuredly That Time will Come in The ALMIGHTY'S Season, and though It now seem long to tarry, let us in faith and patience wait for It! Blessed are the Meek! for they shall inherit the Earth.-5. That the Meek, as the Peculiar Favourites of GOD, and justly so, since that Spirit is alone consistent with true piety; and that to them, more especially, is given, from their contented and submissive and unassuming nature, to enjoy in its truest sense this Life, and, therefore, virtually to inherit the Earth, by possessing the most enduring happiness whilst upon it, was the declaration of David, as well as of The SON of David, the Former adding, "and shall delight themselves in the abundance of Peace;" [Ps. xxxvii. 11,] thus shewing the perfect harmony in this respect under the Law and Gospel. The truly Meek have indeed no want unsatisfied, feeling that all, which they possess, is far beyond their merit; and governing themselves by the rules of temperance and sobriety, they not only make what they have, exceed what they exclusively appropriate to themselves, but find in such Self-discipline the most satisfactory result, affording them the means of withholding not from Others, that have more need, and thus constituting a source of gratifying action as well as reflection, and vesting in them the most profitable Inheritance, even present peace, and the unfailing prospect of Everlasting Joy. Even the valuable properties and faculties of Others are, as it were, an inheritance of the Meek, since they derive both advantage and pleasure from them,-advantage from the general diffusion of Others' merits, and pleasure from seeing that gratification imparted extensively from them no spirit of envy or jealousy or unchristian emulation actuating their minds, they rejoice in the essential and, more especially, the Spiritual advantages of their Fellow-Creatures. Yea, Blessed are the Meek! "for as The Blessed JESUS Averred, they thus virtually possess all the Blessings of the Earth, and assuredly they shall inherit the infinitely Richer Blessings of HEAVEN. Blessed are They, which do hunger and thirst after Righteousness! for they shall be filled.-6. To hunger for Spiritual Food, and to thirst for that Water, which alone satisfieth the thirst of the Soul, is to hunger and thirst for That Which certainly will be Supplied, and that in abundance proportionate to the cravings of the Soul's appetite. And to Those, who, when Bidden to the Feast, have on the Garment of such Spiritual desires, will The Heavenly HOST Freely Give His Welcome, and with It His Blessing, with the Out-pouring of the Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT. The hunger and thirst of the natural Body we may, under peculiar circumstances, seek in vain to satiate, but the cravings of the Immortal Soul have only to be rightly directed, and the Bread of Eternal Life, and the Waters of Spiritual Comfort are at once Set before us; being sought in meekness and devout supplication, in the Name and through the Merits of JESUS that in His Preaching, the Object of the MESSIAH was the Salvation of the Souls of His Hearers by the conversion of their hearts to GOD. The Scribes did not so labour: the pride and the haughtiness of their hearts and heads, (speaking generally,) would not let them so preach The Coming KINGDOM of GOD. St. Luke's more detailed narrative of our SAVIOUR'S Opening Address has also been before stated. On which it may be here further remarked, that in His Earliest Ministry did our Blessed LORD Set forth the Peculiar Merits and Mercies, the Perfection of Love and Charity, Which were the Principles That Actuated His SPIRIT towards Mankind: but His Gospel could not Profit them who rejected It: and sad is the picture there given of weak and vain and proud and ungrateful hearts. Some indeed wondered at the Gracious Words That Proceeded out of our SAVIOUR'S Mouth, and were, doubtless, Comforted beyond expression at the Prospect of Salvation unto Life Eternal thus Opening upon them. These were the Meek and Lowly of heart, the Humble and Contrite Spirits. Such as had before been led captive by Satan, and were groaning under such bondage, and seeking, by prayer and supplication, for Deliverance from Above: Such as Sin had blinded for a time from the view of Heavenly hopes and Spiritual joys, and had left them in all the darkness of despair. But how few, alas! must have been the true Believers and faithful Supporters of JESUS, though All, who had heard Him, might have gained wisdom to walk in a perfect Way, when That PREACHER of Mercy and TEACHER of Righteousness was not only Rejected by the majority of weight and influence in the Community, but grossly and Personally insulted, and more than threatened with imminent danger and even cruel death; from which He indeed Escaped only by a seeming Miracle. In the Temple, when of the age but of Boyhood, He had been listened to with wonder and delight. The Same Gracious SPIRIT Actuated Him on His Further Progress; and Deeper and more Impres sive Truths did He then Disclose. Oh! that His Hearers had been wise, that with the heart they had understood the Things, Which Belonged to their Everlasting Peace! But because He Justly Laid Claim to DIVINITY, they, as too Many, alas! still do, would have none of His Doctrine, nor suffer Him, though Peacefully and Graciously, to Reign over them. Such is the woeful effect of Spiritual pride. May we lay our understandings as well as our hearts at the Feet of JESUS! CHAP. V. And Seeing the Multitudes, He (JESUS) Went up into a Mountain: and when What Multitudes with us are every where and every day seen needing, if not asking for or seeking, the Communication of That Word, on Which Everlasting Life and Peace and Joy depend! And why are there wanting Those, who should ascend up into the Mountain of Holiness, the Seat of Purity and Piety, both by precept and example, to make manifest the vital Character and Principles of Christianity; and, opening their mouth as The SPIRIT, Yielding to their pious supplication for Its Guiding Grace, would Give them Utterance, teach the Great Truths, that belong to the Eternal Interests of Mankind, unto All within their influence? How Comforting a Doctrine This to the Meek and Lowly of heart, to them. who, in a consciousness of their entire unworthiness of an Inheritance in The KINGDOM of HEAVEN, do eagerly close with the Offer of It, by dedicating themselves in all fervency and faithfulness to the service of Him, through Whos Merits and Intercession the Inestimable Blessing is Presented to and Pressed upon them! But, alas! how averse to its reception is the self-blinding principle of Self-righteousness, fostered, as it is, by Pride and Presumption, which by condemning and contemning the Poor in Spirit and the Meek of the Earth, loses for its Votaries The KINGDOM of HEAVEN! And who, indeed, that hath a right understanding and is sober-minded can be otherwise than poor in Spirit, humble, lowly, and deeply impressed with the hopelessness of the condition of his Soul, if dependant alone on his own merits for Salvation, and if The Gracious INTERCESSOR for Mankind had not Interposed between Man's offences and the punishment justly due to them? The contemplation of Which Act of Mercy, when traced from Its Cause to Its Effects, is enough to bring down the loftiest mind and proudest heart in Self-condemnation and abasement; and ought to influence to a paramount devotion of the Soul to the fulfilment of the Will and Commandments of so Great A BENEFACTOR. And be it remembered that to be Poor in Spirit is to be rich in the Favour of GOD, Which Insures the Blessing of inward peace here, and Everlasting Happiness in the Riches of the Mercies of JEHOVAH Hereafter. In St. Luke's narrative the Benediction of our SAVIOUR is thus given; "Blessed be ye Poor, for yours is The KINGDOM of GOD!"-Luke vi. 20: meaning those, who were zealously pressing upon Him in a consciousness of their own Spiritual poverty, to draw That Virtue, Which went out from Him,—the enriching them with the Supply of Knowledge and Wisdom for their Spiritual necessities. And if we come unto Him with faith, not trusting in our own righteousness, but in His Manifold and Great Mercies, GOD will Give us all Things richly to enjoy. Yea, The LORD aforetime Said by His Prophet Isaiah, [lxvi. 2.] "To this Man will I Look, even to him, that is poor and of a contrite Spirit, and trembleth at My Word." Which heart-cheering Truth to the truly humble-minded is thus Fully Confirmed by The SON of GOD Himself, Who Came for the Especial and Gracious Purpose of Binding up the Broken-hearted by Imparting This Blessing. St. Mark thus mentions our SAVIOUR'S Going up into the Mountain, and the Multitude following Him, and His Teaching them; but he does not detail the Sermon. He enters however into the narrative of the Calling and Appointment of the Apostles thus: "And JESUS Goeth up into a Mountain, and Calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him and He Ordained Twelve, that they should be with Him; and that He might Send them forth to Preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. And Simon He Surnamed Peter: and James the Son of Zebedee, and John the Brother of James; and He Surnamed them Boanerges, which is, the Sons of Thunder; and Andrew and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the Son of Alphæus, and Thaddeus, and Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him; and they went into an house."-Chap. iii. 13 to 19. St. Luke, who has before been briefly referred to in connexion with the Text, also mentions the Calling of the Apostles, previous to the Sermon being Delivered from the Mount, thus: "And it came to pass, in those days, that JESUS Went out into a Mountain to Pray, and Continued all night in Prayer to GOD; and when it was day He Called unto Him His Disciples; and of them He Chose Twelve; whom also He Named 'Apostles ;' Simon, (whom he also Named Peter,) and Andrew his Brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the Son of Alphæus, and Simon, called Zelotes, and Judas the Brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the Traitor. And He Came lown with them and Stood in the Plain, and the Company of His Disciples, and a eat Multitude of People out of all Judæa and Jerusalem, and from the Sea Coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear Him, and to be Healed of their diseases; and they, that were vexed with unclean Spirits: and they were Healed. And |